Nick Swisher Traded To White SoxBaseball Digest Daily is reporting that the A's have traded Nick Swisher to the White Sox for Gio Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos, and Ryan Sweeney. I'd heard about the Sweeney part but hadn't been able to confirm it. This is a fascinating trade - let's discuss.

I have to imagine the White Sox plan to use Swisher as their center fielder for the next couple of years; he did play 59 games there in '07. Kenny Williams stuck to his word about adding OBP to his team, picking up Swisher and Carlos Quentin to fill out his outfield. Swisher, 27, is signed at a very reasonable price: $3.5MM in '08, $5.3MM in '09, $6.75MM in '10, $9MM in '11, and a $10.25MM club option for '12 with a $1MM buyout. The option gets a $1.75MM bump if Swisher is top five for the MVP voting during the contract. He has limited no-trade protection for 2011-12.

The White Sox paid a massive price to get their man, however. Pitchers De Los Santos and Gonzalez were their two best prospects, according to Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein. De Los Santos is said to have a huge ceiling, whereas Gio is a solid lefty who's nearly big-league ready. Goldstein ranked Sweeney eighth on the team, but projects him as more of a fourth-outfielder type (he was once very highly regarded though).

If it wasn't obvious with the Dan Haren trade, the A's are in full-fledged rebuilding mode. Joe Blanton, Huston Street, and Mark Ellis could be next to go.

The thing that shocks me is the fact that they are willing to part with the face of their franchise. He is the most popular player on that team. They are sure in a rebuilding mode. Wow, I didnt even hear any rumors about him being shopped. That is pretty quiet. Damn..... I wish him the best.

Yeah, it came out of the blue. Haren was no shock because you've heard his name everywhere but Swisher was a blindside hit.

Still, I feel as though Beane is selling high on Swisher and if reports mean anything we are pillaging the White Sox farm system. Swish is overrated as a bat but he was a superb clubhouse guy and that is probably what I'll miss the most. Haren I think still has upside and it is going to suck watching him tear up the NL West.

The one guy that hasn't been traded but I feel is over valued is Blanton. I wish it was he who got dealt and not Haren.

The A's just made another trade.... They are having a firesale this offseason.

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, an agreement is in place for the A's to send Kotsay to the Braves for reliever Joey Devine. The A's will also eat $5.325MM of Kotsay's '08 salary, leaving the Braves on the hook for only $2MM. Essentially Billy Beane bought Devine.

Man, I would kill to have some decent hitting prospects coming up through the farm. We havn't developed a good hitting prospect since Matt Williams. You guys have a surplus every year, it seems like. Same way with our young pitching in Sanchez, Cain, Lincecum, Lowry, Correia, Hennesey, Misch, and Wilson, but I would have offense over pitching any day. You need a mix of talent. Not loading up on one position.

What is sad about the Kotsay deal is 1) I really liked Kotsay 2) Joey Devine has good stuff but major control issues and 3) We still have to pay 5 mil of Kotsay's salary. I suppose it does help in the rebuilding process though.

There's no baseball writer I respect more than Peter Gammons, and he posted this about Beane's off-season moves:

And some are the work of general manager rebuilding through trades. Billy Beane knew the Athletics had hit a crossroads, and of those seven players the A's have in the Baseball Prospectus Top 100, all but right-handed pitcher Trevor Cahill came by way of for trades involving Mark Mulder, Dan Haren and Nick Swisher; of course, the A's No. 1 prospect,Daric Barton and Haren came to the A's in the Mulder trade, while Haren in turn brought three top 100 youngsters from the Diamondbacks.